Packing or wrapping machine



" y 1941- J. w. CHALMERS I PACKING OR WRAPPING MACHINE Filed Oct. 14, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 I ma M, WM 9464;

y 1941- 1 J. w. CHALMERS 2,241,116

PACKING OR WRAPPING MACHINE Filed Oct. 14, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 6, 1941. J. w. CHALMERS PACKING OR WRAPPING MACHINE Filed 001.- 14, 1959 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 ,1): zrenfor y 1941- J. w. CHALMERS 2,241,116

PACKING OR WRAPPING MACHINE Filed Oct. 14, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 May 6, 1941.

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PACKING on WRAPPING MACHINE Filed 00. 14, 1959 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 2% M, M 9 2A2;

y 1941. .1. W.ICHALMERS 2,241,116

PACKING OR WRAPPING MACHINE Filed Oct. 14, 1939 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 of the detectin devices.

hand from the machine.

Patented May 6, 1941 UNITE STATES PATET OFFICE memo on Application October 14, 1939, Serial No. 299,519 In Great Britain October 31, 1938 4 Claims.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to packing or wrapping machines of the kind in which workpieces are moved in succession through a plurality of stations at which operaticns are performed upon the workpieces, the arrangement being such that a plurality of workpieces are being operated upon simultaneously at diderent stations. A machine as just set forth will be referred to hereinafter as a machine of the kind described.

When a machine of the kind described comprises a cigarette packing machine, the workpiece being operated upon by the machine comprises a batch of cigarettes which may be partly or completely contained in a metal foil or other wrapper and wrapping material which is being folded about the batch of cigarettes to comprise the outer container or apart thereof (e. g., the slide of a slide and shell container) for the cigarettes. 1;

In such machines it has heretofore been proposed to employ detecting devices which operate at various points in the machine to detect, for example, whether or not the batch of cigarettes contains the requisite number of cigarettes .or

whether the wrapping material is fed to the machine at the requisite time. With such devices there is provided mechanism which at some suitable point ejects the workpiece from the machine should a defect have been detected by one or more It sometimes happens, however, that the workpiece is rendered defective whileit is being operated upon by, for example,

the mechanism which is arranged to fold the wrapper about the batch of cigarettes. The detecting devices are, of course, not always suitable to detect such defects, and it is therefore incumbent upon the operator of the machine to watch for such defects and to remove the defective workpieces from the machine.

It is also for various reasons often desirable in practice to remove a number of workpieces pieces at a station prior to that at which the final operation is performed upon the workpieces, and wherein manually controlled means is provided to effect operation of the ejecting device for the purpose of enabling the machine operator to eject from the machine selected workpieces during continued operation of the machine.

The ejecting device may comprise an ejector adapted to be moved across the path of the workpiece in timed relationship with the movements of the workpieces in said path. The ejector may be operated by a cam controlled lever and a movable stop arranged to engage said lever normally to prevent operation of the ejector, said stop being movable in response to impulses received from themanually controlled means to release said lever and thereby to permit operation of the ejector. The manually controlled means may be arranged in an electrical circuit which includes an electro-magnet adapted to control the movements of said stop whereby when said means is operated the electromagnet is energised and thereby causes said stop to release the lever. The manually controlled means may comprise a press button switch.

One embodiment of the invention will be described byway of example with reference to the accompanying drawings which show the invention applied to a packing machine as described in United States Patent No. 2,209,111, issued July 23, 1940.

from the machine before the workpieces have been completely operated upon, and this has heretofore entailed the stopping of the whole machine while such workpieces are removed by Such stoppages of the whole machine result in serious losses of time and also in the possibility of the mechanism of. the machine being disturbed by the operator pulling the workpieces from the mechanism, and also usually results in wastage due to the destruction of the material comprising the workpiece, some of which material (e. 8., the cigarettes) would otherwise be suitable for use if it were not so damaged. e

According to' the invention there is provided a machine of the kind described wherein an automatic ejecting device is provided to remove a. workpiece from the normal path of the work- In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a machine for making and filling boxes:

Figures 2A and 23 together constitute a view of Figure 1 in the direction of the arrow A, the views joining up on the line 2-2;

Figure 3' is 'a plan view of Figure 2B;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a wrapper about to be folded about an article;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a wrapper folded about an article and illustrates the form of the wrapper just prior to adhesive being applied thereto;

Figure 6 is a section on line 66 of Figure 2B drawn to a larger scale; and V,

Figure 7 is a rear view of part of Figure 2B drawn to a larger scale.

Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the specification and drawings.

The operation of the machine shown in Figure 1 is described in detail in the specification of my Patent No. 2,209,111 and only those parts of the machine which are necessary to the understanding of the present invention will be described herein.

Referring to the drawings, wrappers, which in the present instance comprise cardboard blanks, to be folded about an article, are contained in a magazine I5 mounted above a bed II alonz which the wrappers are moved in succession by the pusher pieces of an endless conveyor (not shown). When, as in the present instance, the wrappers are provided with reinforcing tabs, see tabs I2, Figure 4, the tabs are folded and secured to the wrapper during its movement along the bedll.

' I'I (Figure 4) of the wrapper are folded upwardly and are held in position bythe sides of the pocket I5.

Further movements of the conveyor I5 bring the pocket containing the wrapper to a stationary position opposite a further bed I8 from which the article about which the wrapper is to be folded is delivered on to the back broad body panel of the wrapper, i, e., the panel with which the side panels I "I are connected.

In the present instance the article to be wrapped comprises two side by side batches of cigarettesseparated from each other by an inner member 1'' (see Figure 4) and a stripe t of foil or other wrapping material which is folded around the cigarettes and inner member. Two side by side batches of cigarettes are fed from a hopper I9 by one of a series of pusher pieces 25 carried by a continuously movable endless conveyor not shown. The batches are moved between side guides 22 and beneath a top plate 23 (Figure 1) provided with a ridge which projects downwardly and maintains the two batches separated from one another. As the batches pass from beneath the top plate 23 but while they are still partly controlled by the ridge the rib of an inner member is projected downwardly between the batches. The pusher pieces are so arranged as to move the vinner member together with the cigarettes after the inner member has been associated with the cigarettes. Before the cigarettes move heneath the top plate 23 they pass beneath a detecting device 24 (Figure 1) of known construction. The detecting device is arranged to determine whether or not the correct number of cigarettes is contained in each batch and if one or more cigarettes is found to be missing the detector causes an ejector 25 (Figures 3 and 6) operable at a later stage in the machine to remove from the machine the wrapper containing the defective article,

The inner member is formed by the mechanism indicated generally in Figure 1 by the reference numeral 25 from a thin cardboard blank which is severed from a continuous web and is associated with a. batch of cigarettes.

After an inner member has been associated with the batches of cigarettes the batches, together with the inner member, are moved by the pusher piece 20 to a position at which the assemblage engages a strip t of foil or other wrapping material disposed in its path. The strip t is folded about the assemblage by being moved thereby between a top plate 31 (Figure 1) and the bed I8. The assemblage of which the strip it now forms a part is thereafter moved to a position at which the pusher piece 20 is tripped backwardly out of engagement therewith and the assemblage is engaged by a reciprocable pusher 38 which moves the assemblage on to the surface of a wrapper in a pocket I5.

The pocket I is then moved past apparatus I" for delivering a coupon or a cardon to the assemblage being wrapped and then past folding devices which fold the wrapper about the assemblage so that the wrapper is folded as shown in Figure 5. In Figure 5 the wrapper has been completely folded about the assemblage except that the side panels 39, 40 to which adhesive is to be applied are not folded. The wrapper folded as shown in Figure 5 is moved out of the pocket II by a transfer device 4I (Figure 1) and is moved thereby on to a further bed 42. During movement along the bed 42 the folding and sealing of the wrapper is completed and the finished boxes are delivered into a stacker 41.

When the detector 24 determines that one or more cigarettes are missing from the batch an electrical circuit is caused to be made. Part of this circuit is shown in Figure 23 where the reference numeral 48 indicates a battery or other source of power, from which a line goes to an electromagnet 35. The return line from the magnet 35 passes through the detecting device 24 and back to the battery. A commutator I24 is provided so that the detecting device 24 is only capable of causing the magnet to be energized at the time when cigarettes are passing beneath the detector.

Adjoining the magnet 35 is a rotatable disc 49 mounted on a spindle 50 which also has fixed thereto a worm wheel 5|. The worm wheel is driven by a worm 52 fixed on a spindle 53 mounted in bearings 54 at the back of the machine and the spindle 53 also carries a sprocket 55 driven by a chain 55 from another sprocket 51 on a shaft 55. The shaft 55 is supported in bearings 59 at the back of the machine and has fixed thereto a spiral 50 engaging with another spiral 5|, the latter being shown as a chain line. The spiral 5| is fixed to a cross-shaft 52 which has a bevel wheel 53 mounted thereon at the front of the machine, said bevel engaging with another bevel 54 fixed to the main shaft 55 of the machine. It will, therefore, be seen that the disc 45 is driven in synchronism with the main shaft 55 which latter also drives the intermittently moved pocket conveyor I5.

The disc 49 is provided with a number of studs 55 which are spaced at equal distances around the periphery. The number of studs spaced around the disc 49 must be at least equal to the number of packet stages (1. e, movements of conveyor I5) that occur before an item at the most remote detector position reaches the ejector position. A few additional studs are required for a reason mentioned later. These studs 55 are controlled by springs (not shown) so that if they are pressed into or away from the surface of the disc 49 they stop in position. As any particular stud passes beneath a projection 61 on the armature of the electromagnet 35, the projection 51 will, if the magnet is energised, force the stud into the disc 49 and consequently, the rear end of the stud will project through the disc and owing to the springstud arrangement, remain in" that position. When said stud reaches the top position on the disc it comes into contact.

with one arm of a bell-crank lever 58, pivoted at 59 and raises it, as shown inthe "figure, against the tension of spring III. The position of the bellcrank lever may be accurately adjusted by a screw stop as shown.

When the bellcrank lever is in its normal position, one end comprises a movable stop which lies behind an angular piece II which latter is fixed to the side of a cam lever I2 pivoted to a bracket at IS. The upper end of the lever I2 device 4|.

is pivotally connected at 74 to an ejector bar 15 which is slidably'mounted on a guide 16. The front end of the ejector bar' carries the ejector 25 above referred to and which is pivoted to the bar 15 at 11 and controlled by a spring 18. The purpose of this spring mounting is to enable the ejector 25 to swing in case of a jam. The lever 12 is urged by a strong spring 19 shown at the .bottom of Figure 23 to cause the ejector head 25 to move across the conveyor pathand eject a defective, partly formed, wrapper, but this movement is prevented by the angle ll being obstructed by the bellcrank 68. At such times as the be'llcrank is raised, the lever 12 is free to move, andconsequently any faulty workpieces may be ejected from the machine without stopping the normal operation of the same. Such workpieces pass through guides 80 having top control guides 8|. A cam 82 on shaft 58 engages a cam follower 83 on an extension of the lever I2 and restores the parts to their "normal position after operation, the lever 12 being then retained in position by the angle ll. jecting stud 86 just referred to is pressed back to its normal position by an abutment 84 when it reaches a position opposite to that of the magnet 36. Until a stud has been pressed back as described it cannot again be actuated by a detector magnet, and for this reason a few extra studs are required on the disc 49 to cover the space between the top position of the disc and the abutment 84. Beyond the position of the abutment (considered in the direction of rotation of the disc) all the studs are ready to be depressed by a magnet so that if necessary a magnet might be arranged to operate on the first stud after the abutment position.

In Figure 3 side guides 85 are shown near the ejector position which control'the partly folded wrapper and prevent displacement of the various panels until the wrapper reaches the transfer The guide 85 near the ejector 25 is slotted to permit the ejector to pass through.

Although detecting devices have been described only in connection with the cigarette feeding mechanism, it will be appreciated that other known detecting devices may be included in the circuit and arranged to co-operate with the inner member forming mechanism, the wrapper feeding mechanism, the foil feeding mechanism and the coupon and picture feeding mechanism.

In addition to the detecting device 24, a manually operated controlling device is provided by means of which the machine operator may cause the ejector to operate independently of the detecting device 24. The manually operated means comprises a press-button switch 45 which is included in the electrical circuit (see Figure 2B) and which when the button is depressed causes the electromagnet 36 to be energised with the result that the ejecting device will continue to eject each incomplete box as it arrives at the ejecting station. The effective operation of the press-button is subject to the control of a commutator as described later to secure the operation of the magnet in correct timed relationship with the movements of the machine. The ejector will operate to eject each partly formed box arriving at the ejecting station all the time that the press-button remains depressed, so that by this means as many incomplete boxes as it is desired to eject may be ejected from the normal path of the workpieces without interrupting the operation of the machine.

The pro- It.' wi1l, of course, be appreciated that in some instances it will be desirable only to eject from the normal path of the workpieces one incomplete box which the operator has observed to be damaged or otherwise undesirable for a reason which has not been detected by any of the various detecting devices, and in such a case the operator merely waits for the conveyor to arrive at a predetermined position before depressing the press-button. By this means it is possible for the operator to select any particular workpiece or workpieces which he wishes to eject.

It will be apparent that it is not possible for an operator to press the button 45 in exact timed relationship with the movements of the machine, and it would thus be possible for the projection 61 on the armature of the magnet 36 to move into a space between two studs 66 on the rotating disc 49 and lock or break the moving parts. To overcome this a commutator 46 is provided in the circuit so that the button 45 only operates the magnet 36 at the correct time, that is, the manually operated device is only effective in timed relationship with the moving parts. In practice, therefore, the operator merely holds the button down for a sufficient time to ensure that the commutator has had an oppo tunity to make contact. As shown, the commutators consist of spring contacts which would be closed by cams at the proper times, but rotary commutators may, of course, be used.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine or the kind described, a normally automatic ejecting device located at a station prior to that at which the final operation is performed upon a workpiece, said device being operative to remove a workpiece from the normal path thereof, and manually controlled means to effect operation of said device at will to permit a machine minder to eject from the machine, during continued operation thereof, workpieces selected by-the operator.

, 2. In a machine of the kind described, a normally automatic ejector, a cam controlled element to operate said ejector, a movable stop arranged normally to engage said element to prevent operation of the ejector, and manually controlled means adapted to move said stop and thereby to release said element to effect operation of the ejector independently of its automatic operation.

3. In a machine of the kind described, a 'normally automatic ejector, a cam controlled element to operate said ejector, a movable stop arranged normally to engage said element to prevent operation of the ejector, a solenoid arranged in an electrical circuit to effect movement of the stop in response to impulses in said circuit, and manually controlled means in said circuit to energise said solenoid independently of any automatic energisation thereof.

4. In a machine of the kind described, it nor- .mally automatic ejector, a cam controlled element to operate said ejector, a movable stop arranged normally to engage said element to prevent operation of the ejector, a solenoid arranged in an electrical circuit to effect movement of the stop in response to impulses in said circuit, and a press button switch in said circuit to energise said solenoid independently of any automatic energisation thereof.

JOHN WALKER CHAIMERB. 

